There are many great trail running events in Cape Town – we must be one of the best cities in the world for trail running.
One of my favorites is the Bat Run – a mad race that I took part in this Saturday evening.
The Bat Run is run in the mountains at night (hence the name) and includes running:
- Up and down Devils Peak
- Up Table Mountain, across the top and then back down again
- Up and down Lions Head
That’s over 2000m of climbing and descending and a total distance of more than 25km – in the mountains and at night. Mad.
It’s a tough event but it favors the good climbers – like me. Last year I surprised myself by coming in 6th position and finishing in under 5 hours.
This year I went even better and managed to come in second at 4:03 which is under the old record. I just managed to hold off the guy who came in second – he was only about a minute behind me near the top of Lions Head so I had to push my body a little too hard.
Leo Rust set a new record at 3:46 which I won’t ever come close to.
This picture (by Eric Tollner) shows me reaching the top of Platteklip Gorge on Table Mountain. Real deer-in-the-headlights expression – I was pretty tired and quite surprised.
